I'm new to growing peppers and I have a pod on my plant that is green but the pod I used to grow it was red. The pod has been there for a while, its the only one on the plant. It looks like it is probably full grown. I don't need the pod for anything but was wondering if green pods can come from a red pod seed and when to tell if they are ripe?. Heres the pic of the pod (scroll down to the 2nd pic): http://www.thehotpepper.com/topic/19576-my-thai-red-pepper-plant/page__view__findpost__p__412877
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When are pods ripe?
- Thread starter Dot Com
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.........you are green! (some pun was intended), cut back on watering it and the pod will ripen to red quickly.
Yes, Mark's dead-on correct there. But here's something to ask yourself - do you want it to ripen to red? I prefer most of my pods fully ripe, but from time to time I want a green one, for whatever reason. A riper pod is usually sweeter (but not necessarily sweet like fruit), and sometimes I want a more savory flavor from a particular pod. Since you only have one pod, it's not like you have some to taste-test now and others to wait and let ripen, but once the weather warms up and production kicks up, you might want to give this a try to determine your personal preference for different applications.
Thanks for the info. One more question, if I might, will the plant survive through the winter the way it is (I'm in the northern hemisphere)?
I think that is a kung pao pod, i was forced to eat a green one this summer when a hail storm smashed a branch off my plant, green, they are heatless and have more of a bitter bell green pepper flavour. Kung Pao is one of those pods that tastes best in its brilliant red form.
If I remember correctly, this plant was grown from seeds from a fresh red Thai hot pepper. I believe it was pretty hot. Nothing like a Naga, 7 Pot or Fatali(?) but hot nonetheless. The parent pepper was completely symetrical and kind of roundish like a jalapeño only smaller and red.
Pepper plants are technically perennials, but only down to a certain temperature. In general, you shouldn't let the roots get to less than 50F. If you've got them indoors in your living space, you'll probably be fine. There are many threads on this site about keeping your plants alive during the winter - do a search on "overwinter", and you'll find them. I just chopped mine down to almost nubs because of an aphid infestation, and two are nicely recovering, so will likely make it through the winter (if I don't forget to water them, that is!) I was just deciding on not chopping them for the winter before the aphids hit, so know that you don't have to do this if you don't want. However, if your plants are as leggy as you've indicated, you still might want to give them a decent pruning so they'll fill out more in the spring.
I have also green questions about the ripening process. I asked this in another thread but it is very apt for this one.
These orange habs (I assume they are orange) have had green pods for a long time and finally some colour is moving in.
Once the colour is all orange and not green anymore is it ripe or will it continue on? An answer I received was that the colour will deepen. Will the flavour and heat level change too?
These orange habs (I assume they are orange) have had green pods for a long time and finally some colour is moving in.
Once the colour is all orange and not green anymore is it ripe or will it continue on? An answer I received was that the colour will deepen. Will the flavour and heat level change too?
I was looking at Lee's bonchi's and thinking about wintering in the future. Those bonchi's are awesome looking
One user told me to let-up on the watering to facilitate ripening. Mimicking the end of the season I guess. Makes sense to me but I would investigate further about yours from a more knowledgeable source than myself.
I don't want to let them dry out at the moment because our weather is so hot and dry. There are still lots of buds popping up too. I will be moving house soon so I might wait until then and then pick all the orange ones off. Hopefully they will rebud and put out a second harvest. Our season is long here from what I am told, I'm expecting a lot of pods.
Plenty of time for a whole new set of pods and more.
I remember you mentioning that you were moving house. That makes sense to wait a bit longer. BTW- Those plants are looking real healthy
My understanding and experience is something like this:
Once a pepper has reached its "final" color, it is ready. Some, like the one you have (some kind of cayenne), go straight from green to their ripe color. Many others go from green, to a second color (often orange) to their final ripe color. And yet others, especially ornamental varieties, go through several colors before finally reaching their ripe color. There are some exceptions, generally certain bells and ornamental varieties that may start out purple, yellow or whatever first and may go through or ripen to a cream or some other color, but to avoid confusion forget about those for now; just know that they exist.
Peppers picked at different stages will often have quite different flavors (especially at the two ends of the spectrum (very immature vs. very ripe). They will also have different levels of sweetness, heat, firmness, etc. The closer to "ripe" they are without actually being ripe, the longer they will last off of the plant. If they are ripe or past ripe when you cut them off the plant, it might be a good idea to just use or preserve them (freezing and drying/powdering are my favorite methods) soon if you take them off the plant.
When to pick is up to you. IMO, most are best fully ripe; they tend to get a sweeter, fuller flavor. Tabasco is the main exception I've found, which I find to get worse and worse as it goes through its colors (it's sharp and just keeps getting sharper...), so I pick it when it's larger but still light green or possibly as it's changing to its second color. Some of the varieties seem to not only get hotter as they ripen, but it seems to me like the *type* of heat actually changes (ie. a red-ripe tabasco pepper has a quick, sharp burn that goes away quick, while a green one has a slower onset but longer duration and feels hotter to me).
Even those peppers that change from green to their one and only ripe color will turn a noticeably darker hue within a week or so after you might have thought they have fully changed colors. This darkening of the color is what I use to decide when to pick my C. chinense species peppers,... I want them as ripe and sweet as possible, even if that means a slight sacrifice in heat (just add more!), so they get cut off the plant about a week or more after changing their final or ripe color. In my experience, jalapenos start going soft within a week or so of turning fully red, which is not exactly bad, but I prefer to pick them within three days after turning fully red for this reason (if I let them get red). That way they're sweeter, but still crisp.
One more thing... when you cut a pepper off of the plant, the plant will take that as a signal to produce another pepper. For this reason, you may want to consider cutting them off earlier, and ripening them off the plant in a paper bag with an apple or banana around room temperature. This will cause the plant to produce even more peppers if you viciously cut them off just as they're turning their ripe color. My preference is still to have them fully ripen right on the plant, but I can see the bag-ripening method as being a good alternative.
Once a pepper has reached its "final" color, it is ready. Some, like the one you have (some kind of cayenne), go straight from green to their ripe color. Many others go from green, to a second color (often orange) to their final ripe color. And yet others, especially ornamental varieties, go through several colors before finally reaching their ripe color. There are some exceptions, generally certain bells and ornamental varieties that may start out purple, yellow or whatever first and may go through or ripen to a cream or some other color, but to avoid confusion forget about those for now; just know that they exist.
Peppers picked at different stages will often have quite different flavors (especially at the two ends of the spectrum (very immature vs. very ripe). They will also have different levels of sweetness, heat, firmness, etc. The closer to "ripe" they are without actually being ripe, the longer they will last off of the plant. If they are ripe or past ripe when you cut them off the plant, it might be a good idea to just use or preserve them (freezing and drying/powdering are my favorite methods) soon if you take them off the plant.
When to pick is up to you. IMO, most are best fully ripe; they tend to get a sweeter, fuller flavor. Tabasco is the main exception I've found, which I find to get worse and worse as it goes through its colors (it's sharp and just keeps getting sharper...), so I pick it when it's larger but still light green or possibly as it's changing to its second color. Some of the varieties seem to not only get hotter as they ripen, but it seems to me like the *type* of heat actually changes (ie. a red-ripe tabasco pepper has a quick, sharp burn that goes away quick, while a green one has a slower onset but longer duration and feels hotter to me).
Even those peppers that change from green to their one and only ripe color will turn a noticeably darker hue within a week or so after you might have thought they have fully changed colors. This darkening of the color is what I use to decide when to pick my C. chinense species peppers,... I want them as ripe and sweet as possible, even if that means a slight sacrifice in heat (just add more!), so they get cut off the plant about a week or more after changing their final or ripe color. In my experience, jalapenos start going soft within a week or so of turning fully red, which is not exactly bad, but I prefer to pick them within three days after turning fully red for this reason (if I let them get red). That way they're sweeter, but still crisp.
One more thing... when you cut a pepper off of the plant, the plant will take that as a signal to produce another pepper. For this reason, you may want to consider cutting them off earlier, and ripening them off the plant in a paper bag with an apple or banana around room temperature. This will cause the plant to produce even more peppers if you viciously cut them off just as they're turning their ripe color. My preference is still to have them fully ripen right on the plant, but I can see the bag-ripening method as being a good alternative.
I did it too. I was thinking about whether people used that tab here because I hadn't seen many w/ numbers. I was using that feature ystrdy wondering if I was just wasting my time. Meh. Now he's(?) got +2 :-)That is a lot of info on ripening that I didn't know.. nice one. I'm going to click that +1 button that all the kids are into these days.
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
the hottest the pepper will get is when it first starts changing color to the ripe color, after that some of the capsaicin is used for the process of making sugar/carbohydrates for the seeds and the actual color of the pepper if I am remembering correctly...
but, if you want the full flavor of the pepper, it has to be fully ripe...it just won't be as hot...don't ask me how much less hot it will be, the research didn't say...
I wasn't paying attn ystrdy. Thought I was on a different thread. I wanted to give credit where credit is due.
That is a lot of info on ripening that I didn't know.. nice one. I'm going to click that +1 button that all the kids are into these days.
Wow... I must be blind. News to me... I never even noticed the plus and minus buttons or the number rating.
They don't really jump out at you, which is good, but they don't seem to make much of an effort to be seen, either. LOL.